Recently, conservatives have taken up the cause of opposing… Big Bird, the popular character from the children’s television show, Sesame Street. Republicans jump-started this opposition after a tweet went up on the Twitter account associated with the character saying that they’d received their vaccine against COVID-19. The campaign to utilize characters from Sesame Street as an encouragement for children to get vaccinated began after federal authorities approved Pfizer-BioNTech shots for children ages 5 to 11 — although it’s worth noting that, in general, the characters have been used in promoting vaccines for decades.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has helped lead the right-wing outrage against Big Bird. In response to that post on the Big Bird Twitter account, Cruz said that it was “Government propaganda…for your 5 year old!” Encouraging the administration of vaccinations is not government propaganda in any reasonable sense. It’s a measure meant to help keep people from dying, since the basic facts show that vaccines are safe and effective in thwarting the spread of COVID-19, as they’ve done with other diseases. Hillary Clinton joined in with those mocking Cruz (and others spreading similar nonsense) for their lunacy.
As Clinton succinctly put it, alongside a photo of herself as First Lady with someone in costume as the character:
‘It’s a bird that teaches children things. Like how to stay healthy. That’s it.’
It’s a bird that teaches children things.
Like how to stay healthy.
That’s it. pic.twitter.com/0w0UCcCwDL
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) November 9, 2021
It’s simply pathetic that as the United States continues to struggle through its response to COVID-19 — with the overall level of employment in the country still below where it was pre-pandemic — Republican leaders like Cruz have decided to prioritize complaining about Big Bird. These are not credible people — they’re just putting on a show. Arizona state Sen. Wendy Rogers (R) tweeted amid the chaos surrounding Big Bird that “Big Bird is a communist.” Seriously: what is the deal with these people? What would it take for them to get a handle on reality? It’s embarrassing. Democrats are putting forward plans to uplift Americans, such as the bipartisan infrastructure deal recently passed by the House and sent for Joe Biden’s signature, while Republicans are mostly sticking to… whatever this stuff is.
Big Bird is a communist.
— Wendy Rogers (@WendyRogersAZ) November 7, 2021
